1980-81 saw lots of new products introduced into the Subbuteo accessory range.
C167-180 were all produced in 1980, and C181-188 arrived in 1981.

If C193 seems a funny place to end this page, it's just that the Subbuteo range jumps at this point to
C200. There seems no real logical reason for this, but it does make a natural division which I've exploited. Note
that sets C192 and C193 set have now been found - but were there other sets planned/produced to
fill the gap to C199??

Box Types - The hobby-crest era of boxes lasted until 1980,
and C180 was the last item to debut in this box. In 1981, everything was
re-boxed once again, and a new logo was introduced. The word Subbuteo was placed
within an oval, and the words "table soccer" were added as a sub-heading. The
original boxes with this logo still had monochrome illustrations, and I've
called them "monochrome-logo" boxes on this site. They lasted until 1983, so
C181-C193 appear first in these boxes. However, the World Cup accessories (C182, C183,
C193) have blue backgrounds to the logo. Accessories lasting beyond 1983 move
into the 61xxx range, and into the green-logo boxes/packs. On this page, perhaps
only C181 has a green box. C170 has a 1990s pitch-corner box (see below), but
I've not seen it in the green or red-logo 1980s boxes. Perhaps it was
reintroduced into the range (in Italy?) to shift some old stock.

A new fence surround that
looked like it was made from toy zoo animal cages, and made its first catalogue appearance in 1980. These
fences had sprung up around grounds all over
England at this time, to combat hooligans. The Subbuteo version didn't really suit the game, or match the terracing, and it can't have proved a success against the ever popular green fence.
It's final poster appearance is 1983, and the price list from that year drops it
to the "request from stockist" range. It isn't on the 1984 poster,
and although it was still in the "direct" range in January 1985 that should be the last we see of it....

But in fact, as the above
illustration shows, the set was still being sold in the 1990s Waddingtons box.
My version of this seems to be dated Mar.90. This set came from Italy (thanks Stefano!),
so the set obviously kept in the range there for much longer. That questions the
value of some of the dating on this site, but its a bit late to stop now :-0

Box Types:- The set was launched in the Hobby Crest
box, and the 1983 end date suggests that it might have a monochrome-logo
box too, although I have yet to see one. The 1990s box shown at the top of this
section is another couple of box types further along, so whether all the 1980s
versions were produced, I don't know.

Shown as a "new" item
in 1980, this was previously C101 Set B. However, as set C101 was the only
set with two different versions under the same reference, I guess it made
sense to put the single floodlight on a new number, thus simplifying the list.

This set gets badly neglected in the catalogues. The ref.
number appears next to a floodlight picture from 1980 to 1982, but SSG
forget to put the description in the accessory list in 1980 or 1981.

A lovely bold type Hobby Crest box exists for this set.
Thanks to Ashley Hemming for the photo.

A belated arrival for the second English cup competition
trophy. This replica was introduced in 1980, just in time for Liverpool fans to buy it, as
Liverpool won it four
times in a row in this period. At least it was worth the wait, as it was another fine
copy. Of course,
just after this replica finally appeared, the League Cup went through a couple of
sponsors who used their own trophies instead (like the Milk Cup). Still, this is the cup really associated with the competition, and it has been reintroduced in the 1990's.
Which would be good for Subbuteo if they hadn't dropped this item in 1986. Doh.

Box Types:- The League Cup was introduced in the standard
bold type Hobby Crest box (shown). It was transferred to the rarer monochrome
logo box (not illustrated) from 1981-83, and then along with the FA Cup and
European cup, it was sold in a bubble pack in the 61xxx era.

A useful item for taking teams to
a friend's house or tournament,
this set appeared in 1980, and offered more protection than the cardboard team boxes.
This was especially useful for the horrible crushable slide out tray team box that was selling in
1980. However, the design was not really that good. It was bulky, the top was very vulnerable
to cracking, and the green inside was the same flimsy plastic as the slide out
trays anyway. By 1982 the normal C100 boxes were well designed for
protecting teams as they had a polystyrene
interior. That meant that the carry case was last seen in 1983, and didn't get a "61" number.

A three team carry case has also been spotted - this seems to be the same design
as the inside of C175 below, and was possibly offered to members of the Subbuteo
Assn (UKSA).

This pack contained the four World Cup winning teams from 1966-1978 i.e. England, Brazil, Germany and Argentina.
The layout was similar to the Home Internationals set (C165), with the team boxes wrapped in an outer sleeve decorated with the national flags. The England strip
was the red/white one they wore when they won the 1966 World Cup, and this may be its only
appearance (although, of course it is really the same kit as team No1 in the
range).
For more details on this product, check out the special page - Focus On...
No1. The set was only in the 1980 catalogue. (Price £6.40).

Subbuteo didn't produce
the modern European Cup trophy at this time, but obviously thought they would cash in on all the interest generated by English successes with this pack. It
contained three full Subbuteo teams, each representing a club who had won the Cup.
On the back of the pack is a list of the competition's previous winners, with a dot next
to the clubs represented in the pack. This suggests that various combinations
could have been made available, but every set appears to include Bayern Munich,
Nottingham Forest, and Inter Milan. I'm not sure that having two similar red and
white teams is all that clever. All three teams are hand-painted in my version.
It was available 1980-82 only.

Pack types:- Only the one version was produced. Inside the
slide-off card wrap was a three-team plastic carry case, similar to the
two-team one sold as C173. Apparently these carry cases were offered
separately to UKSA
members.

The price on introduction in 1980 was £5.75. Teams at that time were
£1.60 each, and C173 was £1.75. So it was dearer than buying three teams,
and you were also paying for the case.

This was a chart with re-usable Subbuteo player pictures
designed to track the progress of any knockout tournament. It is similar to the soccer plotter (C160),
which was the league version. The Subbuteo player stickers were simply the
illustrations from the Subbuteo-world catalogues of 1977-81. The same sticker
sheet was used for the trophy trail as for the Soccer Plotter, so you had a
single sticker for each of the 92 English league sides, although they weren't
named. Although some were duplicates, it meant you had to peel the winners off,
to stick them to the next round. The gold logo at the top states "European Cup,
Scottish FA Cup, English FA Cup", but in fact, the English league stickers made
this rather difficult (where were Celtic? where were Ajax? etc). The plotter
started at the round of 32, which it called the "4th round".

Thanks to Malcolm Grant for the picture and information on this
item, which was only in the 1980 catalogue.

Pack Type:- The Trophy Trail was simply sold
folded in half in clear plastic shrink wrap, with the stick-on zombie figure
sheet folded on top.

Price in 1980 - £1.60 (same as a team)

July 2013 - Thanks to Ashley Hemmings for providing a picture
of the Trophy Trail counter display.

A little pack of three ordinary players to act as substitutes or to replace lost/badly damaged players. Team
references one and two were the kits included in the basic set, of course, while ref. 21 is a completely white
kit. I guess you used this to paint up any team colour you needed (good luck with some of these!) I remember my local Gamleys selling a few loose replacement players
unofficially, and there must have been a demand here. The set doesn't appear in the catalogues beyond 1983, but like the crowd barrier, later versions have been sighted. For
evidence check out the pack illustrated above, which has a new Waddingtons number, and two players from team ref 246 (plus a spare goalkeeper). Further proof that the catalogues (and this site drawn from them) are not the complete story of Subbuteo production.

Pack types:- The set arrived in 1980, and all three types of
bubble pack card would have been produced (the one shown above is the late
1980s version).

Very expensive (on my budget), and very desirable, this was a major advance in pitches. It
was rubber backed, had a lovely felt-like playing surface and came rolled in a big tube. It was a delight to play on, except that mine had a couple of spots where it would
always form small ridges. If you left it pressed flat under some heavy books for a couple of days it would be okay, but this was a major nuisance.
From the experience of other players, I'd say that mine was not the only dream
pitch which was a bit temperamental. However, oddly the thing is much better
behaved now than it was when I was a kid. Perhaps I'm just more patient. It's
just a shame then, that the thing is covered in eighteen years of dust and
fluff....

The Astropitch first appears in
1980, and was possibly the reason Subbuteo could justify switching to the cheaper
nylon pitches in the box sets. It remained the pitch of preference for
"serious" players, until it is dropped for the 1996 range. That was
not a popular move, and Hasbro did produce a cotton pitch in some of their 1997
box sets, before deciding that they might as well stick with the cheap ones!

Box Types - The original 1980 release of
the Astropitch was in a long rectangular box, and that has been seen with the
Monochrome-logo. The more familiar packaging is a sturdy tube, with green
plastic ends. This was produced for the 61178 release, and exists with both
green and red logos.

Price in 1980 was £8.50, and it was the most expensive
accessory in the range (two floodlights were £6.55, the Grandstand was
£5.50, and the mains adaptor £6.99)

This was just a double pack of the
second version of set C139. However, whereas in that set
the figures were usually produced on green plastic, in green tracksuits, this
set was hand-painted on flesh plastic. The kits worn were navy blue with white
trim, and red with black trousers and trim, so the set matched well with the two teams in the standard Club Edition of the game.
Of course, as the figures were identical, both benches had a manager with his
head in his hands. Are they watching a nil-nil or a six-all draw do you think?

The set dropped to the dreaded "available on request" list of 1982, and didn't carry on into the "61xxx" renumbered range
of 1984, although it is still on the "request" list as late as January 1985. The single bench
was more successful and did continue in some form right up to the
1996 range.

Pack Types:- The original falcon logo
bubble is illustrated, and the monochrome-logo version exists. The 61xxx "goal
net" card is unseen, but possible.

This item was only sold in 1980-81, and I've now discovered that
there were two versions of the set.

The original version was the 1980 Cup Final with Arsenal and West
Ham. As the illustration shows, both teams appear in this set in their home kits but they actually played in their away
kits. I know, I'm getting picky.
A fine set for West Ham fans everywhere (I wonder if Trevor Brooking has a set).
The teams are 232 Arsenal and 209 West Ham Utd in the machine printed
lightweight figure.

The second version featured
the 1981 Cup Final between Spurs and Man City. In this set, Spurs were ref. 352 and
Man City were 191.

The final accessory in the 1980 releases, this was the last of the Hobby-Crest boxes.

Price in 1980 - £4.50. Compared with £1.60 a team, and £1.25
for the cup. That must be 5p for the ball.....

Self-assembly - Grrrr! Another variation on the goal theme, this was the first do-it-yourself goal,
and were packed in a flat box. They arrived in the 1981 catalogue. I liked the
look of them at the time, and as my original C148s had been mended a couple of
times already, I requested a set. Sadly, being seriously
cack-handed I could never get the nets to fit properly. A right pain. Also, the
back spikes tended to fall out the box and go missing, and there are several
fragile bits to break. They looked quite nice once set-up, however, so not a total
failure.

T

hey were used in the special 1981 FIFA World Cup edition
(S210), and hung around until they were replaced by the
similar, but bigger and better Mundial goals (61213),
which arrived in 1987.

Box types:- Arriving in 1981, this was the first new item
to be released in the monochrome-logo era. The goal was also sold in the
Green-logo
box as 61181, and both types are now illustrated. The green logo box was deep
enough to store the assembled goals.

Price in 1981 - £1.65. That was the same as the World Cup
and Tournament goals.

New? Surely they'd been using this for the 1974 and 1978 competitions. Oh well.
Finally introduced in 1981, this set replaced the oddity that was
C157. The cup immediately featured in the FIFA World Cup edition mentioned above,
but the international and stadium sets continued to feature the Jules Rimet. The
cup
also appeared in set C193.

This item made it to the new number range
in 1984, but didn't even manage to out last the Jules Rimet version - vanishing
in 1985 with that older version.. It was the largest replica trophy Subbuteo ever produced, and another fine addition to that range.
Although it should be said that the proportions look wrong - it's too tall and
too thin.

Box types:- The official FIFA items (C182, C183 and
C193), and boxed set (S210) had their own variation on the Monochrome-Logo,
which had a blue background, and globe motif. Although the cup is shown as 61182
on the 1984 poster, I have not seen it in 61xxx packaging. It was too big to fit
a bubble pack, and a box seems unlikely. Note that unlike C157, this box does
have an insert.

"New design" was pushing it a bit. Another cash-in ball set which,
like C181 and C182, featured in the FIFA World Cup edition. These were the first balls where the markings
were printed on the ball rather than using stickers. How full of
fascinating facts could you make a paragraph about a bunch of balls anyhow? Thought so.
The balls arrive in 1981, and featured for the last time as 61183 on the 1984
poster. So not a very
long run for these balls.

Pack types:- Like all balls of the era, C183 was sold on a bubble-pack
card. As with C182, these balls had their own blue-logo version of the
Monochrome-logo. However, unlike the World Cup, the balls were simple to produce
on a 61xxx card, and they have been seen in this packaging.

The description above comes from the 1981 catalogue. Why the inverted commas? Perhaps he's just play acting :-). This is the other half of the replacement for C113
(along with C159). The two new sets were also combined in 187/4 which existed
1981-83. The sets final poster appearance is 1984, where it was shown as 61184.
It was not shown in 1985, but was still available direct from Subbuteo on the
1st January 1985 price list.

This "stand
around the pitch" set sadly does not turn up in any later combined
sets, so it is sadly not all that common.

Pack Types:- This set was sold in a standard
monochrome-logo bubble pack. It was available as 61184 in 1984-85, so it is
probable that a 61xxx bubble also exists.

A very simple grey plastic loop which slotted into the terracing and did look exactly like
its real life counterpart. If like me, you had one grandstand and fifteen spectators, twenty crush barriers seemed a little excessive. Of course, the subbuteo crowd are all seated, and therefore don't actually need crush
barriers... which is a shame, because having a few crush barriers with
half a dozen supporters leaning on them would be great for representing rainy
evenings at the Goldstone Ground... The set was new in 1981, with a final poster
appearance in
1983 (it's another item on the request only lists from 1982-83).

Pack Types:- This has a similar history to C184. It was
introduced in the monochrome-logo bubble pack as illustrated. It survives into
the 61xxx era as an "available on request"
item, so some may have appeared on the later cards.

A rather dull TV Tower suitably modelled in grey, with no OO scale figures supplied with it. It
was basically just a replica model of some no-bolt scaffolding - come on how exciting is that?
The tower was supplied in kit form on two identical frames within a flat box.
The instructions suggested cementing the pieces together, but I never bothered and
the no-bolt design allowed this successfully. Of course, once the kit was
assembled, it wouldn't fit back into the box. For this reason, along with the
fact that many of the pieces of the tower are very fragile, this is one of the
few items of Subbuteo from my youth that hasn't survived (except for a couple of
side panels and a platform!). For that reason, I'm indebted to Lorenzo Carloni
who provided the boxed copy shown above.

Despite being able to double up
as a nifty Airfix guard tower, this self assembly tower didn't fair well against the classic C110, and
only lasted from 1981 to 1984.

Box Types: The
monochrome-logo box (as illustrated) is the only type I have seen. The set was in the dwindling
"available on request" range as late as January 1985, and listed as 61186, but I'm not sure that a box was
produced for it. It was probably just sales of old stock.

These were the first combined
accessory sets, and were a chance to box-up some of the figures which were previously
only available in small
bags, or bubble packs. The box sets were rather pretty, and it is a nice way to
keep the figures in good condition. I got the above version for Christmas (in
1981 I suppose), because I owned the earlier version of the bench set, and
wanted the new one. On the
1981 price list, the first two sets cost £2.50, while sets 3 and 4 were only
£2.25.

Box Types:- The sets were available from
1981 to 1983 only, and the monochrome-logo boxes shown are the only ones
produced.

Price in 1981. Sets one and two were £2.50 each, while sets
three and four were £2.25.

Smaller, and even easier to break.
This set replaced the big orange flag set (C117).
The original version arrived in 1981 and was painted in red and blue halves.
Sometimes these were hand-painted, but most were machine printed. The set
swapped to orange flags in 1985. What
was it with Subbuteo and orange flags?

The orange set continued into
the 1990s, before merging with the referees to become 61240 in 1996. The flags
were also produced with special Premiership logos (in 61234
and box sets) and Euro 96 logos (in 61235
and Hasbro box set).

Pack types:- C188 arrived in the monochrome logo era
of backing card (Brazil player). They then swapped to the 61xxx "goal-net"
card. Judging from the dates, I assume that only the red and blue flags were
on the original card, but possibly both types were sold on the later card.
The orange flags then received a standard sized pitch-corner box in the
1990s.

New in 1982, this was a major set. It featured a half pitch
(with one goal mouth and up to the halfway line) with various activities marked out on it
such as a target range, and shooting positions etc; plus a goal with the old target
board (C124), five light blue cones to dribble around, four red players, one blue player, two balls (one large, one medium) and a booklet of activities. It was given a "61" number in 1984, but didn't feature in the 1985 range. A shame
that.

If anyone else owns this set, can
they please tell me if it is really possible to spin a player around the outside
cones to reach the ball on the short position in the spin exercise (i.e getting
the player to perform half of a heart shape). I can't get anywhere near it, even
with a flat figure - and it's only worth one point if you do manage it.
Mind you, the fact that the pitch is nylon doesn't help because the players arms
and any rough areas on the base get caught in the cloth causing the figure to
jump or stop suddenly. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

Box types:- The monochrome-box type is
shown. The "61xxx" number in 1984 suggests a later box, but I've never seen
one.

I'm sure this is an Italian Edilio Parodi
packed item. Labeled as C189, this set was just the dribbling cones from the
"proper" C189 sold in a bubble pack Note that the pack illustrated
only has four cones, whereas the full skills Trainer had five. The description
on the packet of "Pawns" is a good one, as that is what they
resemble. Sadly, anyone looking for the rest of a Subbuteo chess set is likely
to be disappointed (flick to checkmate?)

Thanks to Claudio Angelini who supplied the picture and details of this item.

Yes it's another set of
balls. These were the first set with advertising on them, and frankly, it was the
start of a flood. It is worth pointing out that the American price lists from
1982-87 call this set C193, which sounds like a mix up. The ball did feature on the front of the Jokari American rule book, so perhaps there is a connection to the NASL. The
balls survived in the range until 1986.

Pack types:- Two different bubbles to
look for - Monochrome-logo era Brazil player card (C190 -1982-83) and the goal-net
style (61190 -1984-86).

Before you say "oh more balls - boring", these are a bit unusual. Instead of the normal hard plastic, they
were made of yellow sponge, just like the full-size "indoor" footballs you could buy around the same time. Were they any good? Well not really. They picked up fluff, and seemed to get too much friction from the pitch.
Also, I managed to bounce one of mine into a glass of cherryade, and it still
has the stain to prove it. Like the Ariva balls, this set arrived in 1982, but
it did not last as long - 1985 being the final catalogue appearance.

Pack types:- Like C190, this ball was
introduced in the monochrome-logo style of bubble pack, and should have a
61xxx goal-net style card as well.

This number doesn't appear in the
catalogues, but C192 was on the February 1982 and 1983 price lists, and 61192
was
still available in January 1985. The booklet shown above is 61192, with that
number being quoted on the back cover. The front cover shows that these are the
Subbuteo Rules and Regulations for the "Federation of International
Subbuteo Associations", which was the official Subbuteo Governing body of
the time. The rules inside were an up-to-date version of the advanced rules as presented in C116, and later in the large combined rule book of the
1970s.
Here however, the presentation is only semi-professional. The booklet had a
monochrome glossy card cover, and the interior is just simple typeset, with no
illustrations. Mind you, the thing only cost 40p.

I'm not sure if this was also the advanced rules offered to the American
market as C2001 in 1984. Their catalogue mentioned that this booklet has
guidelines for arranging tournaments and setting up local leagues. Whilst C116
did mention those things, C192 does not.

As a small booklet, this does not have any pack types - but
books can have C192 or 61192 printed on the back cover.

This featured in an Italian catalogue, but doesn't make it into the English
ones (or the posters of this era). However, it did appear on the February 1982 price
list (priced £4.95). C193 contained two teams from the 1982 World Cup competition, along with Subbuteo's
superb model of the World Cup (C182). There were various versions of this set -
with different team combinations. According to the above mentioned price list,
the versions available in Britain were:

C193/1 England vs Spain

C193/2 Scotland vs Spain

C193/3 Northern Ireland vs Spain

This covered the three UK teams that qualified for the tournament
and the hosts.

However, as you can see, the set illustrated above features Italy and
Germany. This was purchased in Italy and it's worth noting the extra "Italia" logos to
advertise the "home" team. So clearly, different versions of the set
were sold in different countries. I don't know how many other versions exist, but hopefully someone can
enlighten me. Many thanks here to Lorenzo Carloni, who provided the pictures and
details of this set :-)

March 2007: Just to add to the confusion, here is a lovely
England/Scotland version of C193 with a team box sticker on the end to confirm
the teams included. I think that's more variations than I've seen actual sets!

Congratulations, you've reached another break. Subbuteo seemed to miss out numbers
C194 to C199, and go on to C200. I've used this to start part three - the ball heavy Waddington/Hasbro range. If you can stand to go on - follow the link.